2926/A Moonsploration

A Moonsploration
Date of Scene:	01 February 2026
Location:	Moon Castle
Synopsis:	Usagi has invited Rei, Mamoru, Hotaru, and Amy with her on a trip to the Moon Castle, on the hunt for an artifact to share with the Magic in the Making exhibit.
Cast of Characters:	Usagi Tsukino, Rei Hino, Amanda Faust, Mamoru Chiba, Hotaru Tomoe

---

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Maybe it's a little weird to call up friends on a Sunday and ask them to just, join you for a trip to the Moon, but well... in Usagi Tsukino's opinion, it's the best chance for a pretty normal day she's had in ages.

Sure, going to the Moon itself isn't normal, but because everyone who lived there and had lived there and might have ever lived there is dead, there's not a chance that anyone or anything is going to attack them.

There are no youma, or Witches, or Obsidian agents on the Moon, and she'll take that.

"So, this is the castle!" She tells the group cheerfully, "You recognize this place, because it's where Mamochan and me got married!"

And because it's where they watched the final tragic hours of the Moon Kingdom, but they'd gotten married here to cover those memories, give the Moon something new, and different. It certainly feels different.

"We stayed outside, for the wedding, but... I want to go in. I've been back a few times, because Makochan keeps up with her garden, but I haven't really... I haven't really gone inside, and I thought, maybe with some friends, it would be - easier. You know, emotionally?"

The Moon Castle is large but not so tall as one might expect from a royal palace - certainly shorter than the castle in Crystal Tokyo. It's about four stories tall, altogether, the architecture not entirely built along modern height dimensions, the white stone similar to marble, the many windows covered in paned glass. There are multiple towers, with rounded, dome-shaped tops and little spires, akin to the Taj Mahal.

Rei Hino has posed:
    Well, being called to the moon sure beats being up at 2am to fight zombies or any number of other things and for bonus points, Rei's father had wanted to meet her today. So to say that she tossed some stuff in a bag and rushed over to see Usagi is not at all an untrue statement.

    And so, upon ariving on the moon, Rei Hino does something uncharacteristic for her - at least out of henshin - and turns to the Earth and points at it dramatically. "GOOD LUCK FINDING ME ON THE MOON, JERKS." she says, then puts her hands on her hips for a moment. Then she turns on her heel and walks towards the group with every air of elegance usual, like the previous moment never happened.

    And Rei knows that's not all the Moon Castle would be recognized for - but it was Usagi wants it to be recognized for, so Rei leans into it. "Yeah, and it was a beautiful wedding." she says, smiling. "So much happiness there."

    She moves over towards the opposite side of Usagi that Mamoru is likely on to take her hand and squeeze it. "Well, now that you've said that, you're going in if I have to push you." she says with a wink as she lets go. "Besides, it's your castle." she notes astutely. She stands in front of the doors and looks up. And then slightly rubs the side of her head, trying to physically urge the bad memories to go away and be replaced with good ones, both old and new.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Just an ordinary Sunday TRIP TO THE MOON?! Hell' yeah Amy is in!

    She shows up to the meeting place excited already, almost bouncing with excitement. Given it's winter she's still dressed pretty warmly, although she's got some new clothes for once, a cream-colored hoodie with fluffy fleece lining, a blue shirt with glow-in-the-dark magical circle designs over a sort of blue-and-black nebula/space/stars background (she wonders if made-up magic circle designs look to Devicers how Engrish looks to her...) with a mottled grey circle skirt and insulated leggings with an angular black-and-gray pattern on them.

    She giggles at Hino-san's shenanigans, then there's a bit of jumping around in the low gravity, looking up at Earth in the sky all wow, and looking around before she settles down to follow to the palace.

    ...It sure is a palace! Amy doesn't actually know what to expect of a palace, she's only seen them in fiction and Crystal Tokyo and in Chanteur and Gaito's... And also this very same palace, and it's Earth counterpart, in the past. Okay so she's seen part of this exact palace, and she's seen a few palaces, but she doesn't really have a concrete expectation of what any palace should be like.

    She takes some pictures of the outside, and of the Earth over the skyline. "Kino-san has a garden here?"

    "It's... kind of hard to imagine how you must feel about this, but," Amy grins to Usagi, "I'm happy to be here with you."

    She looks towards the front door. "...With Princess Serenity's memories... is it sort of like... coming to a childhood home, but even longer ago? ...Or, someplace you haven't been since you were little, anyway..."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
It occurred to Mamoru as they held hands and teleported that maybe next time they should do it from the beach, since sand getting blown up doesn't actually do anything much to it.

He forgets by the time they're finished teleporting; he squeezes Usagi's hand before letting go and exhaling. He smiles at Rei's yelling, eyes crinkling at the corners, then briefly watches Amy.

It's warm outside, a pleasant temperature; he takes off his jacket and carries it over his shoulder, then ties it around his waist instead. After a moment, he stands there looking at the palace silently, and then crouches to put his hand on the ground. Hello, we're back.

"Ah," he murmurs as he stands up, "it's probably having better dreams now, with fresh memories."

He's wearing black jeans, black shoes, a black mock turtleneck, and a dark red button-down shirt with brighter red stylized roses on it. His fluffy hair moves in the magically generated breeze, and he hooks his thumbs in his belt as he trails along after the girls.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe was dressed in lots of light purple today, with a white neckline and purple flower buttons for the jacket. Under it she wore a dark purple shirt, and a cute black skirt with tights.

Once they were on the moon, however? Her eyes lit up and she turned about, seeing the earth, its light reflecting in her eyes for a moment before she gave a soft, excited gasp. "Amazing..." she whispered. "It's like a giant marble when we're this far away..."

She'd seen it before, of course. Once, when she'd been at the wedding. But that had been different. She'd been focused more on keeping Riventon out of trouble. This was a bit different. And now? Well...

Also, teleporting was always fun. Also... She couldn't help but do a little jump and run, barely resisting 'weeeeeee'ing as she ran.

However, when she realized that Usagi was obviously upset, she paused and looked up at Usagi, setting her face into a determined, serious expression. "No matter what, I promise, we will protect you... and you may make all of the rice cakes in peace, oh great jade rabbit," Hotaru said... trying to make her princess smile, with a silly, childish joke. Because, well. She was still a child. And she was trying her best.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Rei-chan, if you push me, I'll probably fall, and then you'd feel terrible," Usagi declares, but she's smiling, and everyone else's support feels good, too. Hotaru's joke makes her smile widen a touch. "Thanks, Hotaru-chan. I'm not so much worried about being protected, though. It's just... a lot."

She squares her shoulders a little and steps forward, nodding at Amy, but lifting a hand and wobbling it.

"Ah, kind of? It's more like... like it wasn't that long ago that I was here, except it was. Serenity's memories don't feel old, or forgotten, really, they feel like... mine. So a little bit, it's like I haven't been here in ages, but a lot a bit, it's like I was. Only, now it's empty."

Now, this planet that had been so noisy, this place that had been so full, busy and bustling, Capital City of the Moon but also of the Silver Millennium itself, is still and quiet, with only the artificial winds of the dome rustling through the trees and planets and grasses.

"Sailor Jupiter had a garden here," she explains, "And Makochan keeps it up, now. I don't always come with her, but... I've wandered in the city a bit. In the gardens a bit. Coming here's just been... harder."

Not anymore, though. With a look back at Mamoru, smiling at the way he touches the ground, at the message (yes, the Moon is sure to be dreaming of better things now, she hopes), she turns and pushes the doors open.

They open easily, ready at her touch. The great doors are taller than she, or Makoto, or even Mamoru and Kazuo would be, ten feet tall, but they open for her gentle push, and lights turn on, warm and yellow rather than harsh and white, brightening a great receiving hall. The tiled stone flooring is inset with patterns, silver and gold and white, and there are benches where people may have sat, a long hall. There's a receiving room, where people waited and coats were accepted.

There are other spaces, too, but Usagi guides them through this grand hall, and up a staircase, emerging on the second floor.

"The ground floor was formal places, receiving areas - the kitchen is there, and the places our staff lived, and a lot of the - functional places of the castle," she says, tapping into those memories. "But Mother and I lived higher up, and so did the Senshi... there's a wing on the second floor, where we hosted guests important enough that they had to have a room here, in the palace, for propriety, but I don't know if I'll find anything there..."

And she stops, in the middle of a well decorated hall, tall columns and pillars along walls, marble and quartz. Usagi turned to the others.

"Sorry. I didn't say why I wanted to come, did I? I - I'm not sure how I feel about that museum, you know the one," they all have to know about the magic museum. "But if it's going to be... if it's a history of magic, then it should have something of us, too. I want to find something, or somethings, even, that... that I don't mind giving up, for that."

Rei Hino has posed:
    Rei pauses at Usagi's comment. "Fair, I guess you'll just have to lean on us then." She says with another kind-hearted wink.

    She gives a nod to Hotaru, one of the other black-haired Sailor Senshi, and to Mamoru and Amy. It's so good to have support beyond her - to know her support itself has support. And Hotaru's comment makes her smile, too.

    And Rei is going over in her head a list of things to not bring up - to let this moment live on its own. So she's careful about what not to say or reference. Instead, she marvels at the place, feeling how her memories snap into place, though now it's quiet and silent.

    "Oh, that's a good idea. Regardless of how you feel, having things remembered and respected is important." Rei nods in agreement.

    She puts a well manicured-finger to her lips and wonders aloud. "Hey, do you think Moon Kingdom Architecture was inspired by the Earth's... or was it the other way around?" she asks nobody in particular.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    It's like a marble... Amy stares up at it for a moment. Everything she's ever known -- aside from brief visits to here and other dimensions -- is a light-second away, a distance she really can't fathom in human terms. She could never travel it (well... could she, with rocket magic? Maybe...) and yet, she came here in an instant and will be back later today. Magic sure is something.

    Mamoru's comment gets a curious look. "Ah... you can connect to the Moon, too? Or is it connected to Earth, somehow? ...Wait, the Moon has dreams?"

    Usagi explains her experience. "Ah. Yeah, I guess... it's like a new context." Amy blinks and looks around at the city skyline around them. "It'd be like... if we traveled to a parallel dimension, with an empty Tokyo... walked around Radiant Heart, and my old apartment building... or the house I grew up in in America. I guess that sounds sort of like the world in a Barrier, huh..."

    She thinks on it a moment longer and doesn't say out loud, '...and if we knew our world and almost everyone in it was gone, and the empty imitation was all that was left...'

    She nods, listening, as Usagi-chan gives the tour. And then she explains the reasoning. "Makes sense! There's all this... a shame we can't show the world like, an interactive tour or 3D model of everything... although I guess we could show some to Ms. Siddig and the Candidus Cordus...

    Amy can't gelp smiling wide. "Oh my god, can you imagine? If you were like, 'hey, we have something to show you' and then teleported her here..."

    "Magic is really wonderful, though. D'you think... I mean there's this whole city here. People could live here. But there's no easy way for people to get here, hmm, and would they be constantly forgetting, or does the Veil not reach this far..."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru smiles back at Usagi, but he leaves Amy and Hotaru to be cheerful; he feels too solemn, too grave, too uncomfortably like he doesn't belong. He wonders how he could ever have thought to listen to Nephrite about his family name. He wishes he could change it right now. But even if he becomes of the Moon, this was never his home. His own people took that future away.

He keeps making himself wrench his thoughts back to the moment, to be mindful. Usagi is looking for something, and his brow furrows-- but then she explains why, and his expression clears, then brightens, and something at the back of his spine relaxes.

"Earth's architectural advances came well after the Moon's had been established for thousands of years," he says mildly to Rei, though it doesn't actually answer the question, not truly. "Makes you wonder how it happened, though, with contact being forbidden for so long..."

The earth prince trails off, and is grateful when Amy asks a question of him. "No, it's just psychometry. I mean maybe there's more to it than that because, you know, tidally locked orbit, et cetera. But it's not like my connection to Earth."

But then Amy speaks up again with her hope and altruistic ideas, and Mamoru suddenly feels cold to the soles of his feet and the roots of his hair. His gaze shoots over to Usagi and he straightens up and says to Amy, not unkindly, "This place is sacred. Please don't give Curator Siddig any information about it, it's Usako's story to tell, and it's no one else on Earth's *right* to see it."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe followed along with her, and... admittedly, she wasn't the slightest bit worried about protecting her. It was why she made the joke about rice cakes. They were all here for her, to keep her and her emotions, well... safe.

From herself, in a way.

Finding out that Jupiter had a garden here, though, was incredible and made her gasp. She followed along with them, her hands clasped politely in front of her, quiet and listening, memorizing what the princess said. To think that she would one day walk through these halls. To think she would one day be given a TOUR by the princess herself. Well, sort of.

And the reason, well... she was silent, then. She wondered if her castle might have... something. Did her castle even... have... anything? Or was it as hollow as...

She glanced to Rei. "Maybe they both drew inspiration from the same thing?" Hotaru offered. "Magic? Or how all things eventually evolve into crabs? All bipeds eventually make structures like this? We could ask other aliens?" she asked.

She cringed as Amy talked about people moving here and gave a nervous chuckle. "I... don't... think people are ready for that yet, Faust-san. Supply lines are... a thing. And quite vital." There were.... so many other reasons. But that was just... the easiest one. Not to mention the idea of having people just.... stomp around here. Wily nilly, just... The idea made her blanch.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"It is!" Rei is given a smile, as she affirms Usagi's thoughts, and the Moon Princess looks back at the group. This hallway has some pieces of art, but nothing that feels meaningful to her. Pretty, lovely even, but nothing - significant. "It is. We Senshi who were of the Silver Millennium... we're all that's left. Even if people won't understand what they see at the museum... they should see it. They should see us."

For thousands of years, the Moon and her people were empty. The solar system, save for Earth, rendered silent. The people who made this world their home are gone now, but don't they deserve to be remembered?

"I don't know," she scrunches her nose, thinking, before nodding at Hotaru's idea. "Yeah, maybe it was just - coincidence, or similar inspirations? It wasn't allowed to visit the Earth, but especially way, way early on, people definitely did. Maybe they took inspiration from the land, or, maybe some things are just universal - the beauty of a curved shape, or the importance of a sturdy pillar?"

Amy offers some well-meaning thoughts - but the idea of bringing Candidus Cordis here? Especially with her mixed, messy feelings on the entire thought of that organization and what it means, for her future, for their future? She shudders, a little, wrapping her arms around herself as thought a chill has overtaken her.

It's cold, here, so it's not unrealistic. Not frigid or freezing, and certainly not cold compared to the winter they'd left, but she's in a white woolen sweater and yellow leggings with a white skirt overtop, and taking a chill isn't unbelievable.

"I haven't met Siddig-san, and I don't..."

She falls silent, and Mamoru and Hotaru both share their thoughts - Hotaru a little more practically minded, about supply lines, but Mamoru... Mamoru more directly in line with her feelings and thoughts. Usagi takes a breath, and puts her feelings into words.

"This place is really beautiful, isn't it? And it's a whole city, a whole world, where people lived, and it's - easy to think about, people living here, making a home here, having this place, but I don't... think I want that. Those people would be Earth's people, and they'd know nothing of the Moon Kingdom, or Capital City, or the people who were here. Luna and Artemis are the only adults who remember what this world was like, Suna-san left young, and the rest of us... well. Can we even really say we really know the culture?"

Her memories come back to her in ebbs and flows, easier when she reaches for specific things, places, people. But she's not Princess Serenity, not entirely. She's Usagi Tsukino, and she'll always be Usagi Tsukino, and that means that even she, is no longer, fully, of the Moon.

"In a lot of ways, the Moon is a monument to the dead, now. It dreams of the past, and I'm not able to give it a future. If people come here, some day... they can build their own cities, on the other side."

Rei Hino has posed:
    Rei pauses, and turns to look to Mamoru. "While I think you're right, it's Usagi-chan's story to tell - don't be so down on the Earth. I live there, I rather like it, and if Earth was bad, we wouldn't all have been reborn there." she says, firmly. "We may have been part of different groups in the past, and even our souls might still carry that, but we have so many more similarities now than we did then, too." she notes to him.

    "And on that note, I think... we should work on the planet we do have, first. I mean, I hear talk of going to Mars and all..." she says. "... and it makes me uncomfortable. Until people can manage and respect the planet they already have? I don't think they should set foot on any others. Or moons." she says.

    "And... well, people do all sorts of things they aren't allowed to do, right?" Everyone in here probably knows. "Like, I'm supposed to be meeting with my Dad but I'm on the Moon instead, thank you Usagi-chan, but I mean, looking up at the Earth, from here? I think it would be really hard to keep everybody from checking it out." she pauses, then smiles. "Especially if they've already been 'checking out' someone from Earth whenever they see him." she says, trying to lighten the somber mood that fell over it.

    "It's certainly too early to be thinking about that stuff, anyways. Like... we just got our memories back a few years ago. Those sort of decisions... even if they are the right ones, this isn't the right time. For now, we still have a lot to re-learn. And... a planet we all live on *right now* to save from jerks in a too-tall office building." she reminds them.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "I hope we don't evolve into crabs." Mutters Amy, but dismisses that thought. Supply lines? "It's maintaining itself somehow, isn't it? Is that magic?"

    But then Usagi is chilled, and Mamoru gives voice to that coldness. Amy cringes just a little.

    "I didn't mean... I-I won't tell her. And I didn't mean it that way." Her own tone chills for a moment too, "and if anyone seeks to bring the curse of imperialism here... I'll curse them first, before I'd let that happen."

    After a brief pause, she sighs and relaxes again slightly. "I meant more like... i-if" she glances from him to Usagi, "you wanted to see it inhabited again, perhaps people could find refuge here, from..." She looks up. "all that."

    And this time she's looking at Earth with a cold glare. She looked wistful before, but now they've called fully to mind why it can never be home, and the thought of this place being defiled by everything wrong with her world's society is indeed sickening.


    Hino-san says if it was bad they wouldn't have been reborn there. "It's the only place with humans. Nowhere else for your souls to go."

    She nods in agreement that people shouldn't be infecting Mars, either.

    And maybe finally relaxes a bit, when Hino-san points out that right now, their concerns are much more local, and she nods in agreement. "Yeah. Was getting ahead of myself... I guess I'm still..." She rubs the back of her head. "Getting used to the idea of how long changing the world will take. I used to think I'd see that world, that was ready to go to the stars, in my lifetime, heh." She grins awkwardly.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru shakes his head at Rei, untying his black leather blazer-jacket to drape it over Usagi's shoulders. "I'm not being down on Earth-- the planet certainly didn't do anything, and most of the people who live on Earth now aren't the ones who were... were responsible. It would just feel extremely colonizer-ish."

His hands go back in his pockets and he goes back to ambling along with everyone. "And all the things are still here, just as they were-- people's private lives, interrupted-- can you imagine the spectacle? Pompeii would be as nothing in comparison." He gestures vaguely toward Earth in the sky. "Pompeii is grisly but there's no one alive who remembers except Pluto and it wasn't *her* city-- there's only imagining. But here? It'd be like tourists looking for shadows on the walls..."

The prince trails off, and his tone is maybe a little detached; he's got his hands stuffed in his pockets. "Sorry."

Abruptly he looks irritable in Amy's direction, locking in when she actually starts being down on Earth. "Hey, stop with the endless hate about my planet and the entire human race, at least in front of me. Not everyone would be like that. I meant, with 'they have no right', I meant it's just not a basic human right to get in other people's business-- but it's a basic human trait."

Mamoru takes a breath, rubbing his face.. "I'm sorry, Usa. Do you have a type of thing you're looking for? Do-- do you want me to touch anything with you." He hasn't touched anything so far.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe gave a small nod. "Curves are very important. Certain shapes just... work, after all. Archs are mathematically durable, too. Lots of shapes show up all over the world, in different locations, where different animals never met, or ran into each other. Cause nature just happens like that," Hotaru said as she walked with them.

And started walking just a liiiiiiiittle faster, trying to escape the growing cloud of negativity. "Maybe... a nice picture? Or.... a toy? Maybe jewelry?" Hotaru asked, trying to join in with Mamoru in changing the subject. Quickly.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    She thought she was agreeing, and then Mamoru looks more irritated. Amy looks surprised/confused. Wasn't she just saying that if they might want anyone to live here, it'd be some of the ones who weren't like that, finally allowed to escape the ones who were?

    Being chastized as if she'd just blamed all of humanity makes her feel like maybe she kinda did. Sure, some people aren't like that... But perhaps it is a basic human trait: Maybe in any large enough group of people, someone would get exploitative.

    With her mind spinning off in 'wait, I didn't say that' and 'wait, what did you mean' and 'maybe what I didn't say has a point, actually' all at the same time, she just kind of struggles to get any words out, and then the moment's past.

    Now isn't the time, so she tries to just dissociate from the moment and the feelings and follow along on autopilot for a bit.

    Although, something else that was said grabs her mind, and pulls words out of her. "This city... I thought it rebuilt itself like new. But it's actually... just how people left it?" She hadn't actually gone in the buildings, on previous visits.

    "Maybe a Lunarian painting could be brought to the museum? If you'd like."

Rei Hino has posed:
    Rei sighs audiably, but the others have it well in hand. Mostly, it's better to focus on what they are here for, as Mamoru shifts to do and Rei follows suit, at least verbally.

    "If there's anything you want us to do, yeah, let us know." she says. She also hasn't touched anything, not having psychometry notwithstanding. Part of her wonders if it would be more or less correct for her to be here in henshin. She'd been here before as Sailor Mars, as Princess Mars... but Rei Hino hadn't walked these halls before.

    Still, she at least has a place to stuff her hands (pockets). "It's got a quiet sort of dignity and beauty though, even now..." she notes aloud.

    And she nods. "Well, a picture might have meaning that's hard to decipher, and I think... maybe we should take whatever Usagi-chan feels... most right about having on Earth. Whatever that happens to be?" she suggests.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Well, that moment went sour. Usagi winces, because she understands Mamoru's frustration, his sense of rejection, and because she understands Amy's own sense of rejection, her own distance from the planet they all have as their home, now.

"Earth is home, now. And I'm not - I mean, that's just the facts. I'm not worried about the curse of imperialism or anything... I mean. How many weird, conquering aliens have we met? It's not like it's just Earth, or just humans, who have those problems."

She shakes her head, taking a deep breath.

"But I appreciate you, Amy-chan, and all of you, too," she is singling out Amy here, because she feels like she might need her confidence boosted, a little - she's always nervous in the social situations. "It's a good thought. And... maybe someday, people will have a new place on the other side, if they want it. But... no, this is how the city was, just before it fell, I think. It's not - there's no piles of rubble, there's no broken stone, or destroyed gates, so it's not like it was, the last day... but if you go in the buildings, there are still people's books. Their clothes. Their cookware, in the kitchen, their plate settings out for last meals..."

Her voice fades for a moment, too soft to carry, a weight of melancholy.

"Like Pompeii, but... even easier."

A deep breath, and she shakes it off, all the way.

"I was thinking either a painting, or maybe a sculpture, or a vase, just... something. We might not find the right thing today, but... the good thing about this place is, it's still - Serenity's home. It's still a part of us, and it's not like it will be the last time we come. So... let's just look around, and if we don't find anything, we can go home and get takoyaki."